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Catmint Won't Help
For Lily's contest! I stars Eaglepaw, a black tom with amber eyes. He is very serious, and a great fighter. Chapter 1 ~Things that Hurt~ I rolled over onto my stomache. Silverpaw had been sneezing all night. I turned to her for the 3rd time. "Go see Flutterwhisker!" Silverpaw looked up. "No. I don't have greencough." I looked at her in disbeilf. "You look awful! Your eyes are glazed with fever." Silverpaw coughed again. "Fine Eaglepaw. You always have your way." She got up and padded over to Flutterwhisker's den. I lay awake in my nest till dawn. After all, when your mentor is dead, you don't need sleep. At sunhigh, I rolled out of my nest. Only Nightpaw remained in the den. Her clear blue eyes reflected onto the pool of water that collected in the apprentices den. She lifted her head when she saw me. "Hey Eaglepaw. Why arn't you training with Dapplepelt? I quickly looked away so she wouldn't see the nervousness in my eyes. "She has a belly-ache. I'm supposed to take a rest from training." Nightpaw shrugged. "Okay. It's odd though, I haven't seen Dapplepelt in over a half moon. She's always out of camp. Huh." My amber eyes widend. I can't let her know that Dapplepelt died at half moon. That secret has to stay hidden. Nightpaw streched out her long, lithe body. Looking at the two of us, any cat from outside YodelClan would believe that we were littermates. Not even close. We are denmates. Nothing more. My belly let out a pang of hunger. At least, I assumed that. "I'm going to get something to eat. Want me to grab you something?" Nightpaw yawned. "Just get me a mouse." I'm not too hungry." I nodded and padded into the clearing. I quickly snatched a mouse off the pile and brought it to Nightpaw. "Here." Nightpaw started eating the mouse ravounously. "Hey Eaglepaw, could I do some training with you and Dapplepelt today? Grassheart wrenched his shoulder." I swallowed nervously. "Um, she wanted to do some advanced battle moves when her bellyache is gone. Maybe some other time?" Nightpaw nodded. With that I raced to the training hollow. Dapplepelt appeared in a rush of sparkles. "Welcome again, my young apprentice." I let out a sigh of relief. "Everyone is getting suspicious. Can I just tell them you died?" Dapplepelt widended her eyes. "No! They would assign you a new mentor. I was the only cat fit to train you, Eaglepaw. That is the reason for our arrangement. No, fall asleep and we will start." I nodded and crumpled to the ground. I awoke a second later in a StarClan hollow. Dapplepelt turned to me. "Begin." She mewed simply. I raced towards her. She was ready for my attack. Quickly she leaped int the air, and laned on my other side. She smiled. "Good one. But remember, your ememy will kill you if you are off your guard for even a second. Begin again." This time I leaped into the air and onto her back. She tried to throw me off, but I dug my claws into her pelt. Finally she gave up. "That was really good. Now you need to go Something very bad is about to happen. Many cats will diue. Sickness is coming, and you are the only one who can find the cure." Chapter 2 ~Things that are Confusing~ What? Dapplepelt? I blinked, but I was alone in the training hollow again. I sighed. Dapplepelt is just so confusing. There’s no problem with sickness. Suddenly I was overrun with tabby fur. I sat up and faced my attacker, only to see a confused Flutterwhisker. “Flutterwhisker! You startled me! What is your problem?” The young medicine cat shook the dust of her fur. “Eaglepaw! I’ve just had an omen, and I think you are a part of it!” I blinked with surprise. Flutterwhisker nodded. “I dreamt I was walking into camp with herbs. Ever cat I saw starting coughing and sneezing. Then they were bleeding. They died Eaglepaw.” Was this what Dapplepelt was talking about? I shook my head. “How does this all relate to me?” I mewed, confusedly. Flutterwhisker mewed, “After the cats stopped breathing, a huge black eagle soared around the camp. It dropped an herb that I had never seen before. I fed it to the cats, and they woke up again. I think that there is a new disease that will hurt all of us, and that you are the only one who can find the cure.” My amber eyes were wide. Then I shook my head. Flutterwhisker doesn’t know what’s she’s talking about. She’s been on edge ever since Dingofur died last moon. As for Dapplepelt, she’s probably lost her mind. Flutterwhisker turned to me. “I had to find you. Graystar said I should find you since is concerned you.” With a muffled sigh, I followed Flutterwhisker to Graystar’s den. He sat in the den at the top of the Leader’s Rock. I followed Flutterwhisker up the rocks into Graystar’s den. I nodded a respectful greeting to my leader, and we went into his den. He spoke quietly. “Tell me about this dream, Flutterwhisker.” She repeated the story she had told me to Graystar. “I think that there is a new disease out there, and that Eaglepaw is the one who will find the cure.” Graystar nodded. “It makes sense Flutterwhisker. Maybe we should-“ He broke off as Littlepaw entered the den. “Flutterwhisker! Come quickly! Silverpaw is coughing up blood! And the catmint isn’t working!” Chapter 3 ~Things that Cause Trouble~ I let out a shocked gasp. Littlepaw bowed his head. “One more things, Grassheart says that his shoulder is hurting again.” With that, he backed out of the leader’s den, and bounded to the clearing. Flutterwhisker soon followed. I turned to Graystar. “Go back to your training, Eaglepaw. I’m sure Dapplepelt is waiting for you.” He whispered with a knowing glint in his eyes. I nodded and escaped as fast as I could. I raced out of camp, towards the forest. I had to get away from everything. I was about to lie down under a tree, when Nightpaw appeared out of nowhere. “There you are Eaglepaw! Blacktalon wants us to do lots of hunting. The prey is hiding in its’ holes. All there’s been today is that stale stuff we ate, and the squirrel Silverpaw brought back before she, well, you know.” She broke off. I nodded vaguely. She turned to me again, her icy blue eyes blinking. “Come on then!” I sighed. “You just don’t get it Nightpaw. I’m a fighter. I am serious about these things. You are taking things over your head. You all are!” I cried, starting to take my anger out on Flutterwhisker. “I don’t need you telling me what to do!” I raced away after that. What am I doing? I thought suddenly. I don’t want to turn out like Riverclaw. Riverclaw was a feisty old she-cat with more vicious plans than a pack of dogs. She planned to take us all out, and had to be exiled by Darkstar, our leader then. Graystar had been deputy, by the name of Graytail. He had been Riverclaw’s mate, and it was heart breaking to see them be torn apart. No. No thinking about this. With that I raced away to find some prey. Coincidently, there was no prey about. Blacktalon was right. There isn’t any prey to be found. With a defeated sigh, I returned to YodelClan camp. Nightpaw sat by herself, clearly ticked off. I sat down beside her. “I’m sorry Nightpaw. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just wasn’t thinking. Please forgive me.” Nightpaw flashed her eyes. “Try thinking about others for once!” she spat. “Do you know how many more cats got greencough? Half the clan! And if that isn’t bad enough, catmint isn’t working, and everyone is coughing up blood! Thanks to your pigheadedness, a bunch of cats will die!” I looked down at the ground. “Nightpaw, please. I realized my mistake right after the words came out of my mouth. Everything that’s happened today is starting to drive me crazy.” When she gave no reply, I padded to the apprentices den with my head hung. Why are she- cats so unforgiving? They can hold grudges forever. Chapter 4 ~Things that don’t Heal~ Sunlight shone into the apprentices den for the 3rd time since Nightpaw and I had argued. She still refused to talk to me. I felt sick, being so helpless. Practically every cat in the clan had this new disease, where they would cough up blood. From there, Flutterwhisker discovered that they would start oozing greenish yellow pus. Then they would start swelling. It was a pain to endure, and nothing could keep the pus from coming. I decided that this was the time to try and find that cure. The only problem would be talking to Flutterwhisker. She was working day and night, trying to keep her patients from exploding. Littlepaw became her temporary apprentice, for she needed lots of help to get the herbs. Nothing was working. Still, today there were no screaming cats, or Littlepaw running out of the den with pus on his pelt. Just quiet. But the air had an eerie chill to it, and I wondered if some cat had died. I entered Flutterwhisker’s den. The herbs were stacked, and there was no stench of sickness. Here was however, a bunch of puss on the den walls. She turned as I approached. “Eaglepaw, the sickness is contagions. Be quick with this.” Quickly I told her about going to find an herb to cure the sickness. She nodded. “This is a good idea. Nothing is working.” I looked at the dwindling stack or herbs. “Not even catmint is working?” Flutterwhisker shook her head. “Catmint won’t help. This is bad. Go now Eaglepaw, and hurry!” she called. Grassheart began coughing up some blood. Flutterwhisker hurried to him. That’s when I realized that Silverpaw wasn’t in the den. Flutterwhisker answered my unspoken question. “She died.” I ran from the den before I started crying. I headed for the MuskratClan border. They best herbs grew by the river where they lived. The only problem was, I was never a medicine cat. I didn’t know what would cure them. Suddenly my vision was hazy. My limbs felt heavy and I collapsed. I blinked after the ground stopped spinning. Dapplepelt was standing over me. “Eaglepaw! Take some water hemlock to the cats! It’s the only thing that will save them!” Water hemlock. I’ve heard of that before… but where? Dapplepelt pushed a bunch of what I guessed was the water hemlock at me. I grabbed it, and was thrust back into my own reality. I held the water hemlock. I raced back and started giving it to Grassheart, the first cat I saw. However, before I could get him to eat it, I heard a yowl from behind. “Stop Eaglepaw! You’ll kill him!” I whipped around to see Flutterwhisker, holding some juniper. I stopped what I was doing. She dropped the juniper and plucked all of the water hemlock out of his mouth. Then she turned on me. “What do you think you were doing? Water hemlock is one of the most poisonous things in the forest!” I gasped. “But… but Dapplepelt told me it was the only thing that would save them! I dreamed of it, and she gave me the herbs!” Flutterwhisker stopped dead. “Dapplepelt is dead?” I winced. “Umm… yeah, sorry, but that’s not the point!” Flutterwhisker nodded. “Lies told by StarClan. This isn’t right.” She shook out her tabby fur. “Head back to the border and look for more plants. Check the DaisyClan border too. I started to go, but Flutterwhisker stopped him. “One more thing Eaglepaw. Do not be blind to help, or love. It is what has kept you alive.” I nodded and raced away. Do not be blind to help or love. Is she talking about my fallout with Nightpaw? I decided she must be right. With that, I made a detour to the apprentice den. Nightpaw sat there. She looked up as I approached. “Done thinking that you’re the only cat in the forest?” she spat. I nodded. “Nightpaw I need your help. StarClan lied to us, and I almost poisoned the sick cats. We have to find the cure before it’s too late!” My amber eyes must have showed my strain, and she nodded. We ran out of camp, to the one part of the territory that bordered both DaisyClan and MuskratClan. As we reached to herbs Nightpaw turned to me. “I’m sorry too.” It was all I needed to hear. I purred and rubbed my head on her. She licked me. “Come on.” I nodded and we scavenged through the ground. Suddenly a MuskratClan scent hit my nose. I turned to see a group of dripping wet cats come out of the river hissing. I leaped backwards, but only to hit a patrol of DaisyClan cats. I gasped. Russetstar, leader of DaisyClan padded up to us. “Hello Eaglepaw. ATTACK!” With that, all the cats started attacking us. Chapter 5 ~Things that Draw Blood~ I turned to Nightpaw. “Run back to camp. You are faster and can warn them quicker.” She nodded and ran through the mess of screeching cats. With a yowl I launched myself into the thick of battle. All of the clans attacking us at once. Why? I leaped at a dark brown she-cat from MuskratClan. It was Duskpool, the queen who’s life I had saved once. I screeched an land on her back. She tried to through me off, but I held on. Then I scratched her ears. She wailed and tried to bite me, but I slipped away just in time. Thanks Dapplepelt. I thought. A tawny tom quickly took Duskpool’s place. I clawed at his belly. He howled, but kept fighting. He stopped when he saw his pile of blood. He limped away, fast as he could. That’s when something became odd. If DaisyClan and MuskratClan attacked YodelClan, then why am I not dead? That’s when I realized that Nightpaw had returned quicker than I thought. She had brought every cat that wasn’t sick and they were fighting with strong energy. Still, it wasn’t enough to hold back the others and I was feeling rather queasy. I leaped into battle beside Nightpaw, ready to strike. We finished off two large MuskratClan cats. I felt as though we were winning, until I felt my ears being shredded. Behind me sat the largest tom I had ever seen. He slashed at me and I fell to the ground. Nightpaw hissed and jumped onto his back. She bit down hard. He yowled, but her teeth were sunk in hard. He gave up and raced away. Nightpaw looked at me. My leg was bleeding, and my ears were ringing, but I stood up. “We should find the cure now. I know this is a battle, but Flutterwhisker is fighting, so they sick cats are alone.” Nightpaw nodded. “I’m coming with you.” I shook my head. “You can’t. It’s too dangerous!” Nightpaw bristled. “I’m not some soft kittypet Eaglepaw! I’m coming too!” I leaned in. “I just wanted to you to know that I love you.” Nightpaw smiled. “All right. Let’s go find that cure. Chapter 6 ~Things that Kill You~ My back leg was bleeding heavily. Nightpaw kept telling me to slow down, but there was no way I could turn back. We headed to the abandoned twoleg nest. “There has to be something there.” I mewed. Nightpaw nodded, but before we could get to the herb patch, the ground opened up between us. I leaped over the crack in the ground. Nightpaw started at the ground. “What, was that?” she mewed. “I don’t know, but let’s get out of here!” I started scanning the ground for unfamiliar scents. Suddenly I felt a jolt. A silver she-cat stood in front of me. It was Silverpaw! I pinned back my ears and hissed. “Stop Eaglepaw! I know the real cure! A group of StarClan cats have turned rouge and have tried to kill the clans! I ma not one of those cats!” My mind was blown. Rouge StarClan cats? Silverpaw seemed to have read my thoughts and nodded. She nosed a group of peach leaves to me. “This is the only cure to what has been threatening YodelClan. There are some more of these leaves on the abandoned twoleg nest. Hurry!” She disappeared. Quickly I called to Nightpaw. “Silverpaw appeared out of nowhere. She told me the cure for the sickness! Peach leaves. We have to get them from the tree!” Nightpaw nodded and jumped onto the abandoned twoleg nest. She reached into the tree and grabbed a whole bunch of leaves. She leaped back to the ground and we headed back to the battle. I leaped across the crack, when the ground dipped, and made a crevice. My legs were dangling onto the sharp rocks. Nightpaw dropped the peach leave sand raced to help me. I tried to stop her. “Nightpaw no! Bring the cure back and stop the battle! Leave me here. You have to save them!” Nightpaw shook her head. “ I won’t leave you Eaglepaw.” I shook my head. “You have to go!” Something grabbed my hind leg. It felt as though it was being pulled off. Nightpaw grabbed my front paws and pulled me out. "Iwon't let you die!" She yelled. Then she picked up the peach leaves and we headed back to the battle field. The cats were still klling each other. We raced to the highest point with a yowl. "Stop! Why are yuo fighting?" Every cat turned to look at us. Russetstar hung his head. "We have no prey, and we are convinced that YodelClan has been taking it. Nightpaw looked at him like he had just grown wings. "You idiot! We have no prey, but we are not off killing cats for it." Russetstar winced again. "DaisyClan is sorry for the trouble. We are to return home." Grapestar of MuskratClan nodded too. "We are ashamed of what we did. We will never speak of this again." With that, the clearing became full of only YodelClan cats. Flutterwhisker bounded up. "Do you have the cure?" She asked. "You dissapeared during the battle." I nodded. "Peach leaves. Go now!" Flutterwhisker scooped them up and hurried away. Graystar looked at us. "You two have providied a great service to your clan.'' ''I, Graystar, leader of YodelClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn.Nightpaw, Eaglepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" We nodded. "I do." was the chorused mew. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Nightpaw, from this moment you will be known as Nightshimmer. StarClan honors your courage and cleverness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of YodelClan! Eaglepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Eagleflight. StarClan honors your strength and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of YodelClan!" Everyone began cheering. "Nightshimmer, Eagleflight!" I tunred to the newly named Nightshimmer. Her eyes were soft as clouds. She leaned in to me. "I love you too Eagleflight." That was the happiest moment of my life, then and there. And I knew Nightshimmer would always stand by me. The End